Waterfront Coalition balks at proposed national freight fee

Waterfront Coalition balks at proposed national freight fee The Waterfront Coalition, representing shippers and transportation providers involved in international trade, raised concerns last week with a congressional commission’s suggestions to fund important freight infrastructure projects with dedicated user fees on shippers.
   The organization applauded the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission for emphasizing the need for a national freight program as part of transportation infrastructure improvements, but said fees on shipping containers or Customs duty set-asides identified in the report are not equitable.
   “Cargo owners moving freight by way of a container and those paying Customs duties are only one segment of the entire freight community. A true user fee must capture all users of freight infrastructure not just a select few,” Executive Director Robin Lanier said in a statement.
   However, the commission only listed those fees as possible examples of revenue sources and also mentioned a freight waybill surcharge.
   Meanwhile, Reps. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., and Jesse Jackson, D-Ill., on Jan. 22 introduced legislation to create a national fee on imported freight to fund infrastructure within a 300-mile radius of    international gateways.
   As previously reported, the ON TIME (Our Nation’s Trade Infrastructure, Mobility and Efficiency) Act would charge a 0.075 percent fee on the declared value of the goods rather than a flat per container fee to be dedicated for intermodal and port infrastructure projects on corridors serving the point of entry. The fee would be capped at $500, which presumably could cover multicontainer shipments since the fee would be included as part of the customs entry.
   “Anyone stuck behind a rail crossing or crawling along our jammed freeways knows commuters in southern California are severely impacted by the overwhelming volume of goods that pass through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,” Calvert said in a news release. “The same transportation problems we see in southern California are happening at key trade gateways across the country. This bill serves a dual purpose by expediting the movement of goods to increase the efficiency of trade corridors and by providing transportation funding to those local communities most impacted by trade.”
   The bill covers all ports of entry, including border crossings and airports.
   Projects eligible to receive funding include, but are not limited to, freeway expansion, grade separations, dedicated truck lanes, and publicly owned intermodal freight transfer facilities. State transportation agency’s would seek local government and freight stakeholder input to rate, prioritize and select projects for funding. States and localities would have to provide a 20 percent funding match for user fee.
   The Surface Transportation Commission report said implementation of a national fee is preferable to states and local fees that could cause shippers to shift freight lanes to avoid high-cost ports of entry. Calvert’s bill bears similarities to a freight infrastructure investment proposal from trade attorney Peter Friedmann (see “Show us the money,” January American Shipper, page 60). ' Eric Kulisch